Company taking over Lawrence 911 doesn't see a downside

LAWRENCE — The recent outrage regarding outsourcing the township’s 9-1-1 dispatch calls from the municipality to a private vendor, may stem from a fear of the unknown, according to executives from the newly appointed public safety firm, iXP Corp.

“People are worried about change,” said Larry Consalvos, iXP’s president and chief operating officer. “And of the unknown, because they don’t know us,” added iXP’s chief executive officer William Metro.

The privately-held firm won the bid, the first ever of its kind in New Jersey, to take over operations of the Lawrence dispatch center earlier in the week and the company plans to fully launch operations on April 1, 2013. Despite initial fears of job loss, executives of the firm confirmed they will hire current dispatchers and keep them working in the same communication center located in Lawrence.

“We want them to join our company, but we still have the hiring process we have to go through,” said Metro as he referred to the application process government employees who work at the communication center will have to endure.

“As long as these individuals pass our current employment process, including a background and criminal history check, the individuals who currently work in the comm center will be the first in line to become our employees,” confirmed Consalvos.

The executives, who founded the company in 1999, signed a two-year agreement with the township for just under $720,000 a year, with an option to extend for an additional three years. Some who have criticized the privatization, site the minimal savings to the township, only about $1.1 million dollars, over the span of the five-year contract.

“If you have to take an officer off the street and backfill a dispatcher who is not there, then you lose a very expensive resource,” said Consalvos.

Although the vendor has promised dispatchers, who convert into iXP employees, will continue to keep their current salary for the first year, dispatchers who continue their employment past the one-year term will be converted to a base salary and performance bonus structure.

The company will provide opportunities for quarterly and performance bonuses upwards of $3,000 a year. “We have a pay-for-performance model, so we allow our employees to perform against themselves because they know they will be rewarded,” according to Consalvos. “We did a wage survey of Monmoth and Mercer County and our entry level will be in the mid-30s, which is higher than their entry level.”

The average salary for a Lawrence dispatcher is approxmately $45,000 and as high as $55,000 for senior level positions.

The company does not deny that employees may be financially affected by the change in management and admits that one big change will be converting employees from a pension based retirement compensation to a 401K company matched structure.

“They are no longer going to be a government employee that is the downside,” said Consaleves. “But as a private company we have multiple career tracks and we offer more career advancement for these folks.”

The company is also vested in developing and training their employees, offering them with certifications, training and credentials which are recognized throughout the country.

The township, according to iXP, would have considered a competitive proposal from Local 2257, the union which represents the dispatchers, however one was never entered for consideration. “The union had a chance to compete against our proposal and the township would have looked at the best possible proposal,” said Metro. “But they couldn’t do it the same way we do it. We have a performance model, and if we don’t perform we lose that job.”

Requests for interviews with the Lawrence Township Police Department and with Local 2257 were not answered.